Tag - STST

"Even in a nasty recession some firms generate consistent earnings," says Stephen Leeb, who looks to Argon ST (NASDAQ:STST), a defense stock, in The Complete Investor.

"Adjusting to changing threats, the Pentagon will be focusing less on traditional weapons systems and more on the ability to fight unconventional enemy forces through the use of unmanned drones and satellites for intelligence gathering, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

"One likely beneficiary of this shift is Argon ST. Argon specializes in surveillance and reconnaissance systems used by U.S. and its allies’ military and intelligence customers.

"The company’s signals intercept and processing systems are software-based and can be run on commonly available receivers, computers, and workstations.

"A competitive advantage is that these cost-effective systems offer wide-ranging capabilities and high reliability and can be readily upgraded.

"The company has been awarded several contracts, while platform upgrades along with new programs—especially ones focused on airborne signals intelligence such as the Aerial Common Sensor—should ensure solid long-term growth of better than 15% a year for the next several years."
 

United Rentals Inc (Nasdaq:URI), i2 Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq:ITWO) and Dynamex Inc. (Nasdaq:DDMX) are among the biggest percentage losers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Diamond Foods Inc. (Nasdaq:DMND), AngioDynamics Inc. (Nasdaq:ANGO), Argon St Inc. (Nasdaq:STST), James River Coal Co. (Nasdaq:JRCC), Movado Group Inc. (Nasdaq:MOV) and Arena Resources Inc. (Nasdaq:ARD).

Surveillance and targeting is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the DoD budget. The U.S. military is increasingly deploying unmanned vehicles and remote weapons stations to fight the "war on terror," and Axsys Technologies (Nasdaq:AXYS) and Argon ST (Nasdaq:STST) are on the front lines, providing the advanced optics and control systems vital to this transformation.

Axsys Technologies designs and manufactures precision optical systems for defense, aerospace, homeland security and commercial applications. Its technologies are deployed in weapons systems, long-range surveillance cameras and high-precision telescopes. Axsys’ principal customers are the U.S. military, the U.S. Border Patrol and large defense contractors who integrate its tools into larger platforms. The company’s Surveillance Systems Group produces high precision camera systems used in ground, marine and aerial vehicles. Its Imaging Systems Group builds optical and control subsystems deployed in larger systems such as visible and infrared lenses, scanning systems, laser-positioning devices, motion control components and imaging optics. Axsyx participates in large-scale U.S. defense department programs such as the MRAP vehicle, Apache helicopter, Stryker vehicle, M1A2 Abrams tank and thermal weapons.

Axsys ended 2007 with record contract backlog of $140.2 million. During the first six months of 2008, the company’s sales rose 49% year over year to $116.7 million from $78.5 million, and earnings improved 64% year over year to $11.2 million, or $1.02 per share, from $6.8 million, or $0.64 per share. Margins improved because of faster growth in the higher-margin surveillance systems segment. Axsys contract backlog increased to a record $174.1 million at the end of the June quarter as a result of new lens orders from DoD remotely operated weapons and thermal weapons programs. The company recently increased its full-year 2008 guidance and is targeting sales in a $237 million to $241 million range and per-share earnings in a $2.09 to $215 range. This compares with 2007 sales and per-share earnings of $171.6 million . . .

Quest Energy Partners L P (Nasdaq:QELP), Crucell NV ADR (Nasdaq:CRXL) and USA Truck Inc (Nasdaq:USAK) are among the most actively traded companies in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: TASER International Inc (Nasdaq:TASR), USANA Health Sciences Inc (Nasdaq:USNA), DrdGold ADR (Nasdaq:DROOY), ARGON ST Inc (Nasdaq:STST), Cepheid (Nasdaq:CPHD) and Clean Energy Fuels Corp (Nasdaq:CLNE).

Here are the most actively traded companies among small caps:

Citizens & Northern Corp (Nasdaq:CZNC), Tyler Technologies Inc (Nasdaq:TYL) and Ames National Corp (Nasdaq:ATLO) are among the new 52-week highs in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Bryn Mawr Bank Corp (Nasdaq:BMTC), Nabi Biopharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:NABI), ARGON ST Inc (Nasdaq:STST), CryoLife Inc (Nasdaq:CRY), International Assets Holding Corp (Nasdaq:IAAC) and PC-Tel Inc (Nasdaq:PCTI).

Here are the new 52-week highs among small caps:

When Argon ST, Inc. (Nasdaq:STST), a supplier of guidance and detection equipment for military and intelligence applications, reported record revenue of $88.4 million for its fiscal second quarter ended March 30, CEO Terry Collins decided to take a pass on the May 8 conference call with analysts.

He had a good excuse. As EVP Victor Sellier explained to the analysts on the call, a potential Department of Defense customer had scheduled an oral presentation on a bid by an Argon-led team for a multi-year project “with potential value to the company of hundreds of millions of dollars.” The company felt it was necessary for Collins to take part in the presentation, even though it conflicted with the call, and hoped investors wouldn’t mind.

The analysts didn’t seem to mind. BB&T Capital Markets analyst Michael Lewis got off the call and upgraded Argon to “buy”  from “hold,” and Oppenheimer analyst Myles Walton put out a report reaffirming his “outperform” rating and $25 price target on the stock while adding a couple of ticks to some earnings estimates. The $88.4 million in second-quarter revenue, a gain of 38% from the year-ago quarter and 19% from the previous quarter, widely exceeded Oppenheimer’s $78 million estimate.

Although order backlog was down 13% year on year, chief operating officer Kerry Rowe said the company was experiencing a “perfect storm” in new proposals, dealing with eight to 10 major proposals in the last 45 to 60 days. Despite the sagging order backlog, the company reaffirmed its guidance for $325 million to $345 million in fiscal-year sales; Oppenheimer raised its estimate to $340 million from $335 million.

Argon ST, headquartered in Fairfax, Va., was formed in 2004 when Argon Engineering Associates, a privately held company founded in 1997, executed a reverse merger with SenSyTech, a company that traces its history back to 1968.

The company serves the so-called C5ISR sector — command, control, communications, computers, combat systems, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. It develops systems for signal intercept and identification, airborne imaging systems, threat warning systems, electronic intelligence, active electronic warfare systems, communications reconnaissance systems, torpedo countermeasures systems, imaging systems, communication systems, wireless networks and . . .

Small-cap stocks were treading water near steady levels, unable to sustain an opening bounce that was tied to short profit-taking from traders who caught the slide yesterday and by decent weekly chain store sales. At 10:02 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 0.19, or 0.03%, at 716.40.

The weekly chain store sales report was up 1.4% versus the same week last year and reflected a solid showing by Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and Costco (Nasdaq:COST), which could provide a lift throughout retailer shares this morning. However, Wal-Mart was basically flat early on, and Costco was down about 1.5%. On the plus side on the retail front, plastic shoe maker Crocs Inc. (Nasdaq:CROX) jumped 24% on the opening after investors embraced the company’s outlook for the rest of the year. Crocs has been sinking like a rock since February, which puts today’s rally in a different perspective.

On the economic data front, the weekly claims data came in slightly better than the median forecast at 365,000 versus 375,000, but the report had very little impact on the market. The 10:00 a.m. ET wholesale inventories report came in soft at down 0.1% compared with the forecast for a gain of 0.5%. However, the wholesale inventory report is for March data, is considered dated by many traders and had almost no impact on prices when released.

Price action for small caps was bleak yesterday, with the Russell 2000 generating a bearish outside reversal on daily charts and faltering near a familiar zone that stopped the recovery back in early February. Some of the short-term players . . .

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASTI), American Railcar Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARII) and ARGON ST, Inc. (Nasdaq: STST) are among the most actively traded companies in Thursday pre-market trading among those with market capitalizations under $750 million:

Oculus Innovative Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: OCLS), Liberty Bell Bank (Nasdaq: LBBB) and Axsys Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: AXYS) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million.

Here are today's biggest percentage gainers:

Shares of Argon ST, Inc. (Nasdaq: STST) are flat following news before the start of trading that the maker of reconnaissance systems and sensors has bought defense electronics manufacturer Coherent Systems International Corp. for $20 million in cash and debt assumption.

“CSI has a talented and proven staff especially strong on innovative and imaginative solutions to some of the most difficult challenges faced by our troops in harms way,” said Terry Collins, Argon’s CEO and president.